Philadelphia ? U.S. cardinals returned from Rome Thursday to Catholics and Americans eager to hear about their two-day meeting with the pope over sex abuse scandals.

The Vatican meeting followed sex abuse revelations around the nation that have resulted in the resignation of one bishop and the removal of dozens of priests from active ministry.

Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, who has been under public pressure to step down, said before leaving Rome that his resignation “never came up.”

“I particularly was grateful for the Holy Father’s talk,” he said. “Very good spirit. Very frank, very open.”

There were reports of division among the cardinals and church officials about whether all abusive priests or only serial abusers should be defrocked.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., said a much clearer statement would be made at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Dallas in June. U.S. church leaders are expected to formulate policies on priest sex abuse.

“We’re in control of this,” McCarrick said at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. “Whoever has this problem is not going to be a priest in the United States.”

Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he expected colleagues to adopt some kind of a “zero-tolerance” policy for sexually abusive priests and hoped they would adopt a nationwide policy to immediately report child abuse allegations.

“We’re dealing with human depravity, we’re dealing with a sin, we’re dealing with human psychosis, but first of all we are dealing with a crime,” said Gregory, shortly after returning to St. Louis.

Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua said he would push for agreement among all U.S. bishops on procedures dealing with pedophiliac priests. Today, Bevilacqua plays host to seven other American cardinals at a previously scheduled benefit dinner.

He said he was surprised to learn Thursday that Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Lynne Abraham was convening a grand jury to investigate allegations of priest abuse and possible cover-ups.

“As far as I know, at the present moment there is no priest in any parish or any ministry whatsoever who has been accused of misconduct with a minor,” Bevilacqua said at a news conference. “Even with one credible accusation, if we are certain that a priest has formed an act of misconduct with a minor, that priest will never function again.”

The Vatican meetings, in which the cardinals stopped short of adopting a “one-strike, you’re-out” policy, let down some victims of clergy abuse.

“It’s terribly disappointing,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which claims more than 3,500 members.

In other developments Thursday:

Massachusetts’ Senate gave final approval to a bill requiring clergy to report past incidents of child sex abuse to state officials within 30 days or face a $1,000 fine. The bill must still be signed by acting Gov. Jane Swift.

In Ohio, the Columbus diocese said it had relieved a priest of his pastoral duties in 1999 after he admitted a four-year relationship with a minor.

In Las Vegas, Rev. Mark Roberts denied felony and misdemeanor charges that he fondled, hit and photographed teen-agers he counseled at St. Peter the Apostle Church.